By Paul Post
The Digital Age has made communication faster and more far-reaching than ever with email and various social media platforms.
But it’s also led to a breakdown of face-to-face, interpersonal relations that a strong community bank needs to serve customers most effectively.
That’s one of the biggest challenges Dave DeMarco sees in his new role as president and CEO of Arrow Financial Corp., and its subsidiaries Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Co. and Saratoga National Bank and Trust Co.
“Technology has changed the banking industry dramatically,” he said. “We’re in the relationship building business. It’s hard to do that with someone who’s taking a picture of a check and banking on their cell phone or computer instead of coming to the bank. You couldn’t do that when I joined Glens Falls National 35 years ago.”
“We don’t see customers as much as we used to,” he said. “So we basically have to get out of the office to meet people and build relationships.”
DeMarco, 61, a Saratoga Springs resident, has been intimately involved with many facets of the evolving industry during his lengthy banking career.
A Niskayuna High School graduate (1980), he earned a degree in finance from the University of Texas at Austin (1984) and started out as a commercial lending officer for a large bank in Dallas before returning home to join Glens Falls National, in 1987, as manager of its commercial loan department.
From there he was put in charge of branch offices and marketing, and in 2004 was responsible for building the bank’s insurance operation, The Upstate Agency.